I live in Maine, and thus most recent days have been near or below the freezing point. My question to anyone of you is how long I should idle my engine on start-up?

Generally I wait until the engine itself idles down to about 1K on the tachometer and then proceed to put the engine under load. Is this necessary, or would allowing one minute or so for the oil to run through the engine be fine?

BTW, I use 5W30 oil, so it's pretty thin. Thank you.

 

I usually wait until it goes up to 1/4 of the way then I drive it easy until
the temp guage goes up to 1/2.

Some people will tell you that you shouldn't let it warm up too long when ideling.

If you take off before it's completely warm, just make sure you take it easy on the motor until it's completelly warmed up.

 

Maine sucks in the winter....I cant believe how bad the roads are this year.... Ive bottomed my Prelude out so many times this winter i cant believe i still have an oil pan.

I usually let my car idle a few minutes then drive it under 3 grand until its mostly warmed up. I dont like to let it idle up to temp. because it takes too long and the longer it runs cold the worse it is for it... But dont beat on her too bad until shes warm haha.

 

Wow, it's nice to see someone else from Maine also! It would be great if we didn't get any more huge storms lol. I know what you mean though, on our road there is a nice place to bottom the car out, it's terrible!

That makes sense because I remember reading the longer your engine runs cold, the harsher it is on the engine.

 

i just drive and keep it under 3 - 3.5 k until its fully warmed up.

however from a below freezing standpoint like you are at, i would give it about ten minutes before even taking off.